Man Jailed for Death Threats Against NPR Hosts

The Smoking Gun reports that an apparently deranged Maine man has been jailed on federal charges for "bizarre, and often threatening, messages" posted on NPR's "Contact Us" website form. According to an affidavit posted by the watchdog website, John Crosby wrote more than 20 messages on the form that included derogatory slurs used to refer to Jews and explicitly threatened to murder "very soon" All Things Considered hosts Melissa Block and Guy Raz.

The case, the Gun reports, "has not been publicized by the Department of Justice, nor has it been reported by NPR." Here's how FBI agents found the alleged culprit:

FBI agents traced many of the NPR threats to IP addresses associated with the University of Southern Maine. Records maintained by the school indicated that the computer used in late-January to send 12 of the communications to NPR “was registered on USM’s network” by Crosby.

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